Tech —

DoJ drops inquiry into Apple options scandal

Although the Department of Justice has been investigating shenanigans related …

As part of Apple's stock options backdating scandal, the company and its executives have been hit with quite a few lawsuits, with plaintiffs ranging from the Boston Retirement Board to Apple shareholders. As scary as shareholder lawsuits may be, getting investigated by a regulatory board or the government is probably a bit scarier. The Department of Justice took up the case in addition to the SEC (which eventually declined to press charges). Now, following a long investigation, the DoJ has dropped the inquiry without filing any criminal charges.

The way things work with these types of lawsuits is that the SEC files and civil charges it feels are necessary, and then calls up the DoJ to see if it's interested in filing criminal charges. One possibility was that criminal charges would also be filed against ex-CFO Fred Anderson and former General Counsel Nancy Heinen, and perhaps other executives. That would be bad news, but lawyers representing two of the individuals that were being investigated were recently told that their clients were off the hook, and promptly let the media know.

Aside from the fact that criminal charges are a bit more serious, the result of the DoJ probe is good news for all parties involved because it likely marks the end of government and regulatory inquiries and lawsuits related to the backdating. The DoJ wasn't able to dig up enough dirt for criminal charges, and the SEC was only able to unearth enough information to charge two former executives, so I doubt anyone else will be able to find anything significant. Steve Jobs will still most likely be named in shareholder lawsuits, and will likely also be asked to testify in the trials of the two executives, though.